Once Upon a Night
by Annabella Taylor
Summary: Quil and Claire always knew what was expected of them. They'd fall in love, spend the rest of their lives together, and so on; but life isn't always planned, or exact. Sometimes big changes happen and life is never the same... *Quil/Claire*
1. Chapter 1

(A/N: This is my first story on here so...enjoy! XD

I do not own Twilight; I'm not Stephenie Meyer, etc.)

**Claire's POV**

"Alright," a deep voice bellowed from behind me, "I'm ready."

"Me too," I nodded and cued the coach to start the music. Counting off silently in my head, I flipped backwards onto my stunt partner's waiting hands and landed on a perfect cupie. He put me down for a few seconds, and then I was airborne again in a toe-touch basket toss. We continued stunting for a few minutes more, and then worked on the team cheers.

"Okay, everyone, practice is over. Hannah, don't forget to work on your scorpion. Good job, Claire," The coach dismissed us absentmindedly, not looking up from her clipboard, "Don't forget, we're going to Nationals in a few weeks. It might seem far off but it's not. Enjoy your weekend."

"Oh my gosh," Caitlin, the head cheerleader, squealed, "You were awesome out there. I have a feeling I'm looking at a future me!"

I grinned at her. "Thanks. We're _so_ going to rock nationals!"

We all gave each other hugs, and then I grabbed my stuff and headed towards the door. "I've got to go, Cait, I don't need a ride today."

"Oh, by the way, there's going to be a big party at Aiden's house today," She said while taking out her tight ponytail, "You should come. I'll pick you up at 8."

"Sure, I'll text you later!"

I walked out of the girl's locker room, into the hallways, then out the main entrance of my high school. Quil was waiting there, jiggling his keys around in his hand anxiously. I approached the car and opened the trunk, stuffing my backpack and gym bag into it. Quil stopped me before I could get inside the car. "I was watching you today," He said.

I groaned. "Quil…"

"I just don't feel safe with you doing things like that!"

"It's just stunting. Besides, we all make sure we're safe before we do anything."

"You can't be sure when you're flying 6 feet in the air."

"Whatever. Anyways, there's a party up at Aiden's tonight."

"That senior guy's house?" Quil scoffed.

"He's not just a _senior_ guy, he's my friend!"

"Claire, you're a freshman and he's a senior. In La Push High School that just means you can't be friends."

"Says you," I grumbled.

"What was that?"

I sighed heavily. "You can't always baby me, Quil! I mean sure, maybe stuff like that didn't happen when you were going to La Push High, but things are different now! _I'm_ different!"

"Oh and how are you so different? You're popular and I wasn't? You're a cheerleader? You won't get special treatment just because of _that_."

"This is _stupid_!" I folded my arms. I had _no_ patience for this.

We drove in silence for the next 10 minutes, until he pulled up onto a large wooden house on the edge of the reservation.

"I'm sorry, Claire, but you can't go to that party. It's just not safe," His tone had softened and he got out of the car. A few seconds later, I followed him and took my bags from his hand.

"Oh, I'm _going_ to that party," I glared at him and stomped into the house.

* * *

"Um, Cait can we slow down a little? This feels kind of dangerous." I questioned nervously. The convertible was swaying from side to side, the wind blowing my long brown hair back. The force of the wind pushed me against the back of the seat, and I gripped the car seat tightly, though my newly manicured nails already felt like they'd been ripped off. I felt carsick, like I was about to throw up.

"Lighten up, Claire. We're not speeding and I only had, like, one sip," She hiccupped, slurring her words. Though she claimed she'd only had a sip of beer, I was pretty sure she'd had much more. I was starting to feel guilty for yelling at Quil. Maybe he had been right. I sure didn't feel safe now.

Quil was always there for me, ever since I was two. Even as a child, I had enjoyed the feeling of being in the air and one day Quil had taken me to the park. He had turned his attention to my sister for one minute, to look at the scrapes she had gotten from falling off the swings. In that one minute, I had climbed up on top of the monkey bars. I was just four then and waving my legs off the thin rails had been the most exciting thing I'd ever done. "Look, Quil!" I shouted, and yelped as I pushed myself of the bars. I clearly remembered that moment and if he hadn't caught me, I would've hurt my head badly against the pavement under the rusty iron bars. Quil then took me aside, hugged me, and said, "Don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear Claire?"

A sudden swerve had caught my attention. My throat erupted into a scream when I saw the big, bright yellow lights driving at about 80 miles per hour directly at me.

**Quil's POV**

_Quil! Come on you _have_ to get to Emily's right now!_ I heard a voice shout in my head.

_Shut up, Brady, what's the big deal?_

_I don't know, but Sam says you have to get here as quick as possible._

I sighed and ran towards the house, just remembering to phase back before I left the woods of La Push. Walking to the house, I smelled a sickly sweet, faint smell. _Impossible_, I thought, _the guys wouldn't need me to handle one little vampire_.

I felt worried though, and I quickened my pace, closing the distance between Emily's house and myself in just a few seconds. The sight before my eyes shocked me. The guys were all gathered around a small, limp body lying on a small, cushioned platform, but a little distance back. Carlisle Cullen, the head of the vampires, was kneeling closest to the body, moving at an inhumanly fast pace, attaching various tubes and such to the body's arms and legs. I could hardly recognize the face of the body because it was so scarred, but when I looked closer, I realized with a shock that it was Claire.

I took a step back. Her face was badly scratched, with a huge scar on her forehead. Her nose seemed extremely crooked and misplaced. Even though she was unconscious, her body was contorted into a painful figure.

A few silent minutes passed by before I finally cleared my throat. "What's going on?" My voice was hoarse and cracked.

"She was in a car accident," Dr. Cullen dismissed my question, still checking on the tubes that were now branching off of Claire's body.

"Is she going to be okay?" Emily spoke, the usual softness in her voice now missing. She had asked the question we'd all been waiting to be asked, but were too afraid to do it ourselves.

"Well…I'm afraid she can't hang on for much longer. Her heart is weakening as we speak."

"No…_no_," Emily sobbed, her tears erupting from behind her eyelids. She'd been a mother to Claire ever since her biological parents died when she was six. She muffled her sobs with Sam's chest and he ran his hands through her hair. His face was contorted into a strange expression that looked like he was in crucial pain. Over the 8 years she'd spent with him and Emily, they had all grown close, like a family and Sam was as more attached to the girl than any of us had ever been; even me. "Please," Emily choked, "There has to be _something_. _Anything…_"

"There's only one thing I can do to save her at this point, but I'm afraid it would be against the treaty we agreed to…"

We all knew what he meant, even Emily. "Sam, please…she's just so young and…" Her voice broke off at the end.

"I believe I should discuss this with the pack," Sam spoke with authority, even though I knew he felt like breaking down in tears. I could tell we all did.

We walked into the kitchen slowly. The room was usually filled with so much liveliness and meaningless chatter, but today it felt dead.

"What should we do?" Jacob said. I had hardly noticed he was even there. He spent all his time with the Cullen family these days, looking over Renesmee.

"Let's have a vote," Sam cleared his throat and took the lead, his job as an Alpha, "All in favor of…changing Claire into a…well, you know."

Slowly, one by one they all raised their hands. Then, I realized my own was the only one not in the air.

"Quil, I know you love her, we all do and we know how much she means to you, but I think we can all agree that she deserves to live her life," Sam reasoned.

I paused for a minute, thinking of the subject. "What if it's not the same for us? What if she changes and she's not the _one_ for me anymore?" I pushed back the tears that were threatening to pour over my cheeks. _Guys don't cry_, I told myself.

"Look, she's going to change, but the thing that you have between you and her, that's never going to disappear," Jake patted me on the back sympathetically.

I reluctantly raised my hand and felt like I was in kindergarten again, taking a guess at an answer I wasn't sure about, but this was different. In life, you don't get to 'try again'.

The pack returned through the door. I stayed planted firmly in my seat for a few minutes, then got up and followed them in.

"We've all made our decision," Sam started, "Dr. Cullen…if you will."

He gestured awkwardly towards Claire's neck. Carlisle nodded back seriously and approached the limp body. I hardly noticed the violent tremors erupting up and down my spine. Jake approached me and patted me on the back. "Calm down," He whispered. I tried to push the anger away as the doctor moved closer to her gray skin. Carlisle opened his mouth wide and sunk his sharp teeth into her neck. Claire twitched, her mouth dropping into a gaping hole, screeching in pain. My anger took control and I lunged forward to the trembling figure on the couch, only to be held back by Seth, Jared, Paul, and Jacob.

"Let me go!" I howled, "Let me…"

Embry tackled me from the back, clapping his hands over my mouth. They all dragged me out the door and into the forest. "Go, Quil. Come back when you can control yourself," I was too furious to identify the voice. They all shoved me into the woods, just a few short moments before I felt my body erupt into a large, chocolate brown furred wolf. I ran into the forest, the sticks cracking under my paws. I howled furiously, fighting the person inside me who wanted to run back into the house. I don't know how long I ran, or when I finally decided to stop, but surprisingly, I ended up back at Emily's yard. I entered unable to keep myself away from Claire anymore.

She looked different, and I knew I should've expected it, but I didn't. I sighed and reminded myself that she'd never be the same again.


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: Still not Stephenie Meyer.)**

It was like torture, watching Claire for the next few days. She barely moved at all. I sat by her bedside every single minute, determined to stay until she woke up. I would give her a light kiss on the forehead every day in the morning and at night. The rest of the day I spent staring at her face or holding back tears or brushing her brown hair behind her ears. It seemed to be getting lighter everyday, changing from straight and muddy brown in color to slightly wavy and honey-colored. Her face grew paler and paler until it was almost pure white. She looked absolutely beautiful each day and finally, on the night of the third day, she stirred.

Claire moaned, and then twisted her head to the side. "Carlisle!" I shouted, "She's waking up!"

I felt paralyzed and backed myself up against the wall. I had no idea what to do with a newborn vampire in the room. Her eyelids pulled open, revealing bright pink eyes underneath. She looked horrified, reaching to her throat, then her hair. "W-what's going on?" She looked at me, and smiled.

Her smile quickly turned into a frown. "I'm so sorry, Quil. I didn't mean to yell at you. Things got out of hand and…" She looked around, "Quil? What's going on? Why do I feel different?"

She jumped out of the bed. "Why am I still alive?"

"Okay, Claire, I'm going to need you to calm down," Carlisle coaxed as he entered the room.

"While you were on your deathbed, we all made an important decision," Sam said, "We decided that you deserved to live the rest of your life, so we allowed Carlisle to turn you into a vampire."

Her eyes widened and she jumped back, landing precisely next to the window. "S-so I'm one of _you_ now?" She spat, narrowing her eyes at Dr. Cullen, "Why didn't you just let me die, _Sam_?"

Sam winced and took a step back. Claire usually referred to him as dad and it hit him hard when she called him by his actual name. "I won't have you behaving like that," he reprimanded, "Dr. Cullen has been very kind to us, giving us help when we needed him. Now, you will be living with his family until you have learned to control yourself."

Claire crossed her arms, glaring at Sam intensely. Finally, she scowled and jumped out the closed window, a shower of splintered glass falling down onto the driveway. I took a step forward to follow her, and then pulled back when I realized she probably didn't want to talk to me right now. Carlisle gave us an apologetic look and followed her out the window, careful to dive through so no more damage would be done to the window. He ran up into the forest at an inhumanly fast pace, following Claire's trail.

**Claire's POV**

There were no words for the anger I felt when I discovered that the pack had allowed Dr. Cullen to change me into a vampire. Carlisle had eventually caught up to me, taken me hunting, and led me to the house. It was amazing and humongous. When I walked in, I was immediately greeted by the whole family. I still gravitated towards Jacob, though, because I knew him more than any of these other people. Renesmee was the friendliest to me, probably because we were about the same age. The blonde boy—Jasper, I think—almost had a heart attack when she reached forward to hug me. As soon as the greetings were over, everyone returned to what they were doing originally. I heard soft piano noises and followed my ears to where the sound was coming from. I saw Edward sitting in front of the piano, playing a soft ballad. "You play?" I asked, curious.

"Yes, do you?" He answered, ending the piece quietly.

"I took a few lessons when I was six. I usually play guitar and sing."

He nodded and smiled, seemingly happy to find a fellow musician.

"Can I try?"

"Sure," he stood up and moved to the side. I took his place in front of the piano, looking once at the music and memorizing every single note. Then I began to play, my fingers moving quickly across the keys.

"You have talent. Not many people who have only taken a few lessons while they were young can play as well as you do."

"Thanks."

I stood up and returned to the living room, where everyone was gathered on the couch in front of the TV. I took a seat next to Renesmee and Jacob, hoping I would find something to do in the eternity I would spend as a vampire.

* * *

Three weeks later, my eyes still hadn't faded to yellow yet, even though I was only feeding off animals. I still spent the majority of my time with the pack, and the time I wasn't spending with them was divided between writing or playing music and hanging out with Quil. The story of my supposed 'disappearance' had been spread to the press and the coach had cried for 4 days straight.

One day, I knew something was different with me and Quil. He seemed so down and mumbled a simple 'hi' when he approached me. There was an awkward silence between us. It was strange. Usually when we were together we would be talking nonstop.

"So…I wrote a new son—" I started.

"I need to tell you something…a-about us," He interrupted me.

"Yeah?" I urged. I was curious as to what he had to say. We had always known all we had to know about us. Ever since I found out he had 'imprinted' on me when I was seven, we had never had to question anything about our relationship. I would grow older and eventually marry him, no doubt.

"Claire, I don't…I don't love you anymore."

I felt my brain shut down just then. "W-what?"

"When I'm around you, I just can't…it just doesn't feel the same way. I'm sorry."

"I…don't understand. You don't want me anymore?" I felt like someone had ripped my heart out of my chest. I waited for the tears to spill over my cheeks, and then remembered that I couldn't cry anymore.

"You should just go…" Quil murmured back.

I've never wanted to cry so hard before. I just wished that there was some way to show how I felt then, but…nothing.

"Fine…I _hate_ you!" I screamed. I ran into the thick woods, determined to get as far away as I could. I'd said it. Three words. Words that I've never, _ever_ said in my whole entire life.

I don't know how long I ran that day. It seemed like the world was endless in front of me. The vast forest stretched out in front of me and the thick branches didn't bother me one bit. I ignored them and kept on going. I finally reached the tip of a long, steep cliff. Wishing more than anything that I could die, I jumped off. The water swooshed around below me and in seconds I had sunk underneath the surface. I knew that I could stay on the enormous lake's floor forever without running out of breath, but instead I swam back to the shore. I quickly climbed up to the top of the cliff, and followed my trail back to the Cullen house.

By 1 o'clock that night, I had convinced the Cullen's to leave. By the next morning, we would be in Alaska. As we drove north, towards the Canadian border, I could have sworn I heard a howl in the distance. I sighed and pushed the thought to the back of my mind.

**Quil's POV**

"I hate you!" Claire's screech stung at my ears. I watched as she dove into the woods, faster than a bullet. I quickly headed the other way, as tremors surged through my body. It had been a long while since I had lost control. I usually found it easy to keep myself under control around Claire. I wandered around aimlessly, then headed down the familiar path to Third Beach, following a strong, sickly sweet scent.

From the middle of the beach, a small pillar of smoke rose into the sky. I trodded slowly towards the smoke and the smell of burning wood grew stronger.

"Ahh, you've returned," Felix stood up, his giant size towering over the others.

"We were starting to grow...impatient," the monotonous comment had come from an angelic-looking girl sitting the farthest from from the fire.

"We trust that you have completed the task we gave you?" The vampire in the center, Demetri, asked. I nodded my head, the images of the scen starting to come back to me.

"It would have been terrible to see something happen to that girl so _close_ to the car accident," Alec tossed a handful of sand into the fire, "It's a pity she was so weak. It's not as fun when their arms snap like twigs."

He picked up a stick and snapped it in half, throwing both pieces into the fire. "But her blood...absolutely delicious," Demetri smacked his lips. The four vampires glanced my way, waiting for a reaction. I mindlessly lunged towards the one who just spoke and in a minute, I was on the floor, collapsed in pain.

"That'll teach you some manners," Felix kicked my stomach and I whined. "Stupid mutt," he muttered, "Cross _us_ again and you can say goodbye to your little friend. _Forever_."

"I can almost hear her now..."

"Demetri, I _love_ you," Jane batted her eyelashes and mocked Claire's voice to an almost-perfection. They all cackled and walked off the beach, disappearing into the dark woods.

_Claire...What have I done?_


End file.
